President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate killed a Republican bill Friday that would have required steep spending cuts and a balanced budget as the price for averting an early August debt default.
By a largely party-line 51-46 margin, lawmakers voted as expected to set aside the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" bill that the Republican-led House of Representatives approved in a largely party-line vote earlier this week. The manoeuvre came amid often acrimonious behind-the-scenes talks aimed at pairing an increase in the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling with a deficit-cutting package with no clear path to a deal with an August 2 deadline fast approaching.
In a bit of political theater, Republican Senate Jim DeMint led a phalanx of newly elected House members close to the archconservative "Tea Party" movement into the chamber to watch the vote.